1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a static mixing module in which at least two mixing parts having the same configuration are assembled and disposed in a static state inside a piping for blending or mixing at least two kinds of fluids, and in particular to a static mixing module which can be easily formed and assembled, can be manufactured at a low cost.
2. Disclosure of the Related Art
From the viewpoint of economy and mixing/blending efficiency, static mixing modules having a high mixing/blending efficiency relative to their lengths and reduced pressure loss are desired.
Conventionally, to satisfy this requirements, a module disclosed in FIG. 1 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (Kokai) No. 56-62531 and a packet disclosed in FIG. 3 of Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 61-32117 have been proposed. These module and packet basically have a configuration shown in FIG. 10 (Prior Art).
When a static mixing module having a configuration shown in FIG. 10 (Prior Art) is manufactured by a conventional manner, plural kinds of pieces having predetermined shapes are firstly formed by press working, as shown in FIGS. 11A, 12A and 13A (Prior Art), and the pieces are then assembled and welded to form blocks, as shown in FIGS. 11B, 12B and 13B (Prior Art). Subsequently, these blocks are assembled to obtain a module having the configuration shown in FIG. 10 (Prior Art).
The above-described process of forming separate pieces has the drawback that it involves cumbersome steps of making blocks and welding. In order to solve this drawback, the following improvement has been proposed. Namely, as shown in FIG. 14, a plate 50 (blank) is cut at lines 51 by press-cutting leaving center portions 52 for twisting (hereinafter referred to as twist portions 52) and holes 53, 53 are made as facing each other with a twist portions 52 between. After the press working, the plate 50 is subjected to bending or twisting to form a block as shown in FIG. 15 (Prior Art). After preparing one more block having the configuration shown in FIG. 15 (Prior Art), the block is divided into two pieces to obtain blocks which have configurations as shown in FIG. 16A (Prior Art) and FIG. 16B (Prior Art), respectively. These blocks are assembled to obtain a static mixing module having the configuration shown in FIG. 10 (Prior Art).
In the first method shown in FIGS. 11A, 11B (Prior Art) through FIGS. 13A, 13B (Prior Art), pieces can be formed by punching only, and the dies for punching are simple. Further, the accuracy of each piece can easily be secured. However, there is a disadvantage in that many and varied parts are required to conform the dimension of piping in which the static mixing module is placed. This causes a drawback that the selection of parts and management of supplementing the parts become difficult, resulting in the rise of problems in quality control, involving the presence of foreign parts. Further, problems of production cost, production efficiency, and the like are also incurred.
Although the second method shown in FIG. 14 through FIG. 16 can remarkably reduce the number of steps for welding and assembling, the method requires a variety of press workings, such as hole-forming, cutting, primary bending, twisting, cutting-off, and the like. Therefore, a large number of dies are required in this method. This results in an increase in the production cost, and also deterioration in strength of the twisted portion. Moreover, there is a potential drawback that the chances of defects such as breakage, deformation and burrs increase. The conventional method therefore involves troublesome works.